Stories differ as testimony begins in Lima stabbing trial
Nov. 13—LIMA — Two of four people either directly involved in or in the immediate vicinity of a dispute earlier this year that left two people with knife wounds took the witness stand Monday as the trial of Terry Green III got underway in Allen County Common Pleas Court.
The version of events offered by the two witnesses were quite dissimilar.
Green, 37, of Lima, was indicted in June on four second-degree felony counts of felonious assault and Assistant Allen County Prosecuting Attorney Cecily Stewart told jurors in her opening remarks that the reason everyone was in the courtroom on Monday "is because the defendant brought a knife to a fist fight."
The state's first witness, Lance Crabtree, described injuries he sustained when allegedly stabbed by Green during an incident in April that stemmed from a love triangle of sorts. Crabtree described for jurors a romantic relationship — including a child — between himself and Desiree Long, who also shares a child with Green.
He said that on April 12 of this year he and Long got into an argument at their residence on Saint Clair Avenue in Lima after both had been drinking. Long's cousin, Kaely Tippe, was also at the home and had also been drinking heavily, Crabtree testified.
Crabtree said Long, Tippe and two children in the home left the residence following the argument and went to Green's home, located just a few blocks away. After a short amount of time Crabtree left his home and saw Long's vehicle at Green's residence, he told jurors.
"I stopped to talk with Terry Green; I wanted to make sure Desiree was not going to leave his house because she had been drinking," he said.
Crabtree said that while he was parked outside Green's home, Tippe jumped halfway into his truck "and began punching me in the face" through the open window.
"I got out of my truck and Kaely followed me," Crabtree told jurors. "I turned around to get away from her and I collided with Terry Green. At some point we all ended up on the ground and I started to fight back. Terry was hitting me from the front and Kaely was hitting me from the back. I was getting jumped."
Crabtree said he left the area and returned home, only to discover he was bleeding.
Jurors were shown photos of multiple stab wounds suffered by Crabtree to his face and shoulders that required five hours of surgery.
According to court records Green allegedly produced a folding knife during the dispute and stabbed Crabtree several times. Tippe also suffered knife wounds to her hands. Green reportedly admitted to investigators that he had introduced the knife into the altercation.
Long was called by Judge Terri Kohlrieser as the day's second witness. She disputed parts of Crabtree's testimony, including his claim that he returned from work in the late afternoon of April 12 when the argument started.
"He called off work and had been drinking with us all day," Long testified.
Prosecutors also honed in on differences in what Long had told investigators in the hours and days immediately following the incident and what she told jurors from the witness stand on Monday.
Long said the version of events she told detectives "was what Lance told me to say" in a phone conversation between the two after the stabbing. Long also said that, despite Crabtree's earlier testimony that he drove off after the fight, he actually "got out of his truck and walked toward" Green in a threatening manner.
"Did you ever see a knife in Terry Green's hand?" Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kyle Thines asked Long.
"No," the woman said.
Asked by attorney Megan McLean of the Allen County Public Defenders Office about her current relationship with Crabtree, Long described it as "very toxic."
Testimony in the trial will resume Tuesday morning.
